The goal of this research was to determine whether relational aggression in girls was similar to overt aggression in boys in terms of social-psychological adjustment. A total of 199 fifth through ninth grade children (86 boys, 113 girls) participated in this study. Relational and overt aggression scores were used to form groups of children who varied on the two types of aggression. Results indicated that overtly aggressive boys did not differ from relationally aggressive girls in terms of depression, anxiety, psychopathy, sensation seeking, ADHD, delinquency, and drug use. Further, boys in the aggressive groups scored consistently higher than boys in the nonaggressive groups on all indices of maladjustment. The results of the current study provide support for the hypothesis that relational aggression in girls is not different from overt aggression in boys in terms of social-psychological adjustment problems.

Aggression has traditionally been subdivided into two correlated, but distinct, subtypes: reactive and instrumental. Reactive aggression (RA) is considered impulsive, emotionally driven behavior, whereas instrumental aggression (IA) is planned and incentive-motivated. This thesis examines the relationships between RA, IA, psychopathy, and antisocial personality disorder (APD) symptoms in male and female offenders recruited from a jail in north Texas. Contrary to predictions, psychopathic traits did not account for more variance in aggression than did APD symptoms. Impulsivity demonstrated slight incremental validity over psychopathy for RA, and to a lesser degree, IA. the continued utility of the reactive-instrumental distinction and implications for professional practice in relation to the current study are examined. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Bakgrund: Våld mot vårdpersonal inom psykiatrin är vanligt förekommande. I dagens lagstiftning finns ett krav på att arbetsgivarna ska utreda och åtgärda risker för hot och våld på arbetsplatsen genom kartläggning, information och utbildning. De-eskaleringsteknikerna är viktiga instrument som utgångspunkt i hanteringen för att öka förutsättningarna för stabilitet i situationen. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva hur de-eskaleringstekniker fungerar i praktiken för att reducera aggressivitet och våld i psykiatriska slutenvårdsmiljöer. Metod: Litterturstudie innefattande elva kvalitativa artiklar. Resultat: De återkommande uttrycken i studierna har identifierats och sammanställts i nio generiska kategorier: vara på plats, läsa patienten och situationen, självkännedom/trygghet, skapa kontakt, lugnt kroppsspråk, lyssna med genuint intresse, tala på ett lugnt, känsligt och korrekt sätt, stärka patienten (empowerment) samt balans mellan empati och kontroll. Kategorierna har inordnats under tre huvudkategorier: individuella egenskaper, handlingar samt effekt - de-eskaleringen syftar till att stärka patienten i ett eget val om stabilisering. Diskussion: Det har påvisats konkreta resultat i användandet av de-eskaleringstekniker men även att de-eskalering är mycket situationsbundet och kräver en adekvat kompetens hos vårdpersonalen.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die huidige studie was om kruis-kulturele verskille ten opsigte van direkte en indirekte aggressie tussen Xhosa, Zulu, Kleurling en Blanke Suid-Afrikaanse studente te bestudeer. 'n Totaal van 832 studente het die Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire (RCRQ), 'n vraelys wat direkte en indirekte aggressie meet, voltooi. Die Kleurling-deelnemers het beduidend-hoër vlakke van direkte aggressie gerapporteer as enige van die ander groepe. Die Zulu-deelnemers het beduidend-hoër vlakke van indirekte aggressie as beide die Xhosa- of Kleurling-deelnemers gerapporteer. Geen beduidende geslagsverskille kon vasgestel word nie. Daar is tot die slotsom gekom dat kultuur 'n groter bepaler van verskille ten opsigte van aggressiewe gedrag was as geslag van die deelnemers. Daar word vertrou dat die resultate van die huidige studie 'n bydra sal maak tot die effektiewe bestuur van aggressie in Suid-Afrika, asook tot die bevordering van internasionale begrip vir die kulturele diversiteit van die land. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT : The primary aim of the present study was to examine cross-cultural differences in direct and indirect aggression between Xhosa, Zulu, Coloured and White South African students. A total of 832 students completed the Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire (RCRQ), a measure of direct and indirect aggression. The Coloured participants reported using significantly higher levels of direct aggression than any of the other cultural groups involved. The Zulu participants reported using significantly more indirect aggression than their Xhosa or Coloured counterparts. No significant gender differences could be established. It was concluded that culture was more predictive of differences in aggressive behaviour than was sex of the participants. It is hoped that these results may contribute towards the effective management of aggression in South Africa and assist in promoting international understanding of the cultural diversity in this country.

The insanity defense has been of special interest to psycholegal scholars. Despite its notoriety, the defense is infrequently used and rarely successful. Yet, it is surrounded by myths and misconceptions. These misconceptions put the credibility of our legal system at stake since it can cause biased jurors to judge criminal acts based on their own misconstruals of what it means to find a defendant Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity (NGRI). In order to understand and eventually counteract these biases, it is important to first understand what they are. In recent years, developments in aggression research have strengthened the link between psychology and criminal law. Most notably, the reactive/instrumental dichotomy of aggression has been suggested as a model by which both fields can understand and explain behavior. The dichotomy has had many legal applications but has yet to be used to examine the insanity defense. The purpose of the current study was to examine how attributions of reactive and instrumental aggression as well as the defendant's level of psychosis and injury to victim affect the outcome of NGRI cases. This study further explored whether police officers would make distinct attributions of reactive and instrumental aggression, or assume one general dimension of aggression. Participants were 101 defendants in the state of Wisconsin who had pleaded NGRI. The data were collected during the defendant's competency to stand trial hearings and were based on police reports of the defendant's violent offenses.In the first model, reactive and instrumental aggression were treated as separate factors. In the second model, they were combined into one factor of premeditation. Structural Equation Modeling of the data did not reveal good fit, but indicated a few significant pathways. Given these results, further exploratory and confirmatory analyses were run. Results indicated that police officers rated aggressive behavior as one factor (premeditation) and that premeditation was the only significant predictor of outcome. These findings suggest that jurors, and potentially judges, may have certain biases toward defendants whose cases indicate a high level of planning. Possible implications and future directions are discussed.

Given the paucity of research that has been conducted on aggression in girls (see Keenan, Loeber, & Green, 1999, for a review), it is important to examine different behavioral manifestations of aggression that may be more prevalent among girls than boys, such as relational aggression (see Crick et al., 1999, for a review). Relational aggression consists of behaviors that harm others through damage to their peer relationships or the threat of such damage (e.g., spreading rumors about a peer so that others will reject him/her, social exclusion; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are a particular subset of youth who are at increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behavior (Henker & Whalen, 1999; Whalen & Henker, 1985). The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of relational aggression among children with attention problems as compared to the general population. Gender differences in relational aggression were also examined. In the current study, participants included 91 3rd-5th grade public school students. Teacher ratings of aggressive behavior and attention problems were obtained. Parents also completed measures to assess attention problems and social-psychological adjustment. Contrary to prediction, results indicated children with attention problems were not more aggressive than children without attention problems, regardless of the type of aggressive behavior assessed (i.e., relational or overt aggression). With respect to gender differences in relational aggression, results indicate the well-known gender effect for relational aggression only applies to Caucasian students in this sample, as a gender effect for relational aggression was not obtained for Hispanic students. Thus, the gender effect for relational aggression should not be considered a robust finding generalizable to all ethnic groups. Finally, relationally aggressive children were reported to be as well-adjusted as their non-relationally aggressive peers, which is not consistent with previous research. Regardless of aggression status, Hispanic children exhibited higher levels of delinquent behavior and anxiety/depression compared to Caucasian children. Findings are discussed in terms of measurement issues and within a cultural context. The limitations of the current study and directions for future research are presented.

This study seeks to answer the question of if there is a relationship between the types of music listened to and the level of aggressiveness, particularly in young people detained in the County Juvenile Home of Dallas, Texas.

No description available.

Escape maintained behavior in dogs is generally displayed by one of two behaviors-fleeing or aggression. Once aggression is negatively reinforced by the removal of the aversive stimulus, it is very difficult to eliminate from the organism's repertoire. Counterconditioning is the process of pairing a positive reinforcer with an aversive stimulus in the attempts that an organism will no longer exhibit fear responses in its presence. This process must be done gradually with small approximations. Many organisms have been trained to tolerate the presence of aversive stimuli via counterconditioning. However, this process can be time consuming and has inconsistent results. The purpose of this experiment was to monitor the effects of counter conditioning around an aversive stimulus while simultaneously training an identical behavior in the presence of a neutral stimulus. The results demonstrated that even though counterconditioning produced approach to the aversive stimulus the subject still exhibited numerous fear responses when results were compared to the control condition.

This study investigated the factorial validity, stability, and social, behavioral and emotional correlates of several different roles that students can play in the context of bullying. Data were collected from students at two time points across two school years, April and May of 2006 (n=284) and again in November and December of 2006 (n=185). A confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the validity of 4 participant roles (i.e. bully, reinforcer, assistant, and defender). However, further analysis revealed that there was a strong degree of intercorrelation between the three bully factors (i.e., bully, reinforcer, and assistant). Analyses found that participant roles are fairly stable across school years and that the greater the percentage of same raters across the time points, the greater the stability. All of the bullying roles (i.e., bully, reinforcer, and assistant) were significantly related to callous unemotional traits, emotional dysregulation, positive expectations for aggression, conduct problems, reactive relational aggression, proactive relational aggression, reactive overt aggression, and proactive overt aggression, but these relationships were stronger in boys. It was also found that the defender role was associated with less aggression and more prosocial behavior. These associations were stronger in girls. Finally, a linear regression analysis of the interaction between participant roles and victimization revealed that at T1, the association between bullying roles and aggression was moderated by victimization. Specifically, the association was stronger in those low on victimization. At T2, the association between defending and lower aggression and greater prosocial behavior was stronger in those low in victimization.